Power of Affirmations - {Guided Meditation}

As a person with anxiety, my brain tends to run 100 mph with future worries and unlimited ideas. I sometimes picture my head as a pinball machine, with thoughts bouncing like a little ball all over the place. Except it never slows down. It never stops. It just bounces against the insides of my brain, dizzying me and making my stomach nauseous. It’s out of control.

Then, I stumbled upon affirmations.

Through using affirmations, I took charge of my thoughts. I actively directed my brain to focus on the beliefs I want to embody. In practicing affirmations throughout the day, I get to feel in control and have slowly been changing the way my brain works. Positive thoughts become more natural.

What are affirmations?

An affirmation is simply anything you state or think. These can be good or bad statements. Typically, they’re occurring naturally throughout the day without you even noticing them. These thoughts help to establish our belief systems.

Often, affirmations take place unconsciously within our internal dialogue, or self talk. In the negative format, we may think or say things all of the time, such as, “Man, I’m an idiot” or “There’s no way I am capable of that.” It can become standard practice to affirm negativity all day long, thus creating our reality around those thoughts.

However, when we make the conscious shift to bring positive affirmations into our practice, we make big shifts. We start to redirect the brain, changing old patterns, and inviting in something new. New opportunities can present themselves and we see the world in a different perspective.

Positive affirmations help us to fight against the limiting beliefs we created throughout our childhood and adolescence. They’re called “limiting” because they hold us back from our desires. We have the power to rewrite our beliefs, but we have to actively work to change our dialogue. Bringing affirmations into your life can help you to direct the change you need to happen in your life.

Ways to Use Affirmations

Affirmations can be written, spoken, sung, or shouted on the rooftop. Whatever works for you. Here are some practices that I enjoy:

Repeating them out loud – I enjoy doing this in the shower, but it works even better when you can be looking at yourself in the mirror.
- Bonus! I love using an affirmation app that reminds me to repeat a series of different affirmations throughout the day. It send me a reminder about once an hour and shuffles the affirmations I’ve selected and input.
Chant them in meditation – Often, in savasana or a simple meditation practice, I will pick a phrase I want to concentrate on and repeat it to myself over and over again. This not only helps keep my brain focused, but I start to feel the words becoming part of my normal thoughts. {Listen to my video below.}
Write them down – EVERYWHERE. I enjoy writing different affirmations in my daily planner or on post-its around my house or office. My favorite? Writing on my bathroom mirror with an Expo marker because it reminds me to read it to myself “face-to-face”.

If you are looking for some affirmation ideas, do a quick Pinterest or google search. Additionally, I have a post on 50+ affirmations I use for confidence. Go check them out 🙂

6-Minute Morning Affirmation Meditation

Save this video to come back to it whenever you’d like:

When practicing meditation, do not be too concerned about how you are sitting. Find what is most comfortable for you, where you can be supported, but not likely to fall asleep. Some mornings, I practice meditation in different yoga poses or laying on my back. Other times, I’ll take a traditional seat. No right or wrong!